JFK workers busted in mini liquor theft ring

Employees at JFK were arrested for stealing $750,000 worth of mini liquor bottles and duty-free items from the airport.

Eighteen former and current JFK workers were arrested in connection with the theft of more than 100,000 mini liquor bottles at the airport over the last five months, the Queens District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

The airport employees also stole duty-free items, including cigarette cartons, perfume and larger bottles of booze. In total, the retail value of the lifted goods is estimated at $750,000.

Three of the workers arrested were security guards and 15 were truck drivers for LSG Sky Chefs, the food and beverage subsidiary for American Airlines. Instead of transporting unsold mini liquor bottles from planes to a storage facility in the airport, they would steal them.

Earlier this year, the Port Authority Inspector General’s Office learned that Sky Chefs employees might be stealing liquor at JFK, and launched a joint uncover investigation with the District Attorney’s Airport Investigations Unit, leading to today’s arrests.